Friday, December 18, 2015

Mark Begelman is best known for his role as President of the office supplies giant, Office Depot ODP +%.Office Depot. Mark retired from his position with the company to enjoy life and spend more time with his family.

Mark's passion for music seems to have lured him from the comforts and boredom of retirement, into a new full-time job.

Since purchasing the 40-year-old music equipment retailer, Begelman has been busy rebranding the company with a new name, new image, and ambitious expansion plan.

Mark's plan is to do away with three of the four Ace stores, which North Miami expanded to Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Orlando. The new business plan in place calls for an intergalactic themed chain that will carry virtually every musical instrument. Pianos and church organs are being excluded from the lineup.

This new, energy filled concept is, "Mars: A Musician's Planet". A brand that will surely be welcomed by musicians and musical instrument lovers.

Begelman's Brand Vision

"Mars", which stands for Music and Recording Superstore will inevitably change the way musicians buy instruments and record their music, in the same way, Begelman changed the way we buy staplers and notepads.

Mark is confident about the impact that the Mars brand will have on musicians.

Begelman recently said, "When a musician walks into our store for the very first time. I suspect they will not be very interested in shopping anywhere else again."

Begelman Isn't Alone and That’s Ok

Los Angelas-based Guitar Center and Long Island-based Sam Ash Music, the nation's two largest equipment chains, are equally confident about their superstores in South Florida.

The challenge that competition has to offer isn't anything that concerns Begelman, who never expected to find himself selling rubber bands and paper clips.

"You never know how these things will turn out," said Begelman, a semi-professional guitar player in his own right.

Monday, December 14, 2015

Pearl Jam- Rock Performers With Substance written by Mark Begelman. No one can argue with the fact that Pearl Jam is a solid institution as a rock band. Although they were most popular in the 90s, the band's influence continues to make itself felt. This is despite the fact that the band has seemingly been trying to demolish its own golden status. The main reason why they continue to be controversial despite their popularity is because of their vocal stand on certain socio-political issues.

Despite their controversial stands though, nothing can remove the band from its pedestal. They are true rock legends. For two decades, countless fans continue to listen to their music. To date, band members include Eddie Vedder on guitar and lead vocals, Stone Gossard on rhythm guitar, Matt Cameron on drums, Jeff Ament on bass and Mike McCreedy on lead guitar.

All Time Favorite Discography

We've seen performers from the 90s peak and then disappear into oblivion. This isn't bound to happen to Pearl Jam considering that they've sold 60 million albums worldwide. People continue to buy their albums simply because the band's songs remain relevant through the years.

The band's inexhaustible energy is apparent in the volume of work that they've churned out. To date, they have a total of nine albums, two compilations and six live albums. Aside from their own work, they have collaborated with other big name artists such as Mother Love Bone, Soundgarden and Temple of the Dog.

The nine studio albums are spread well over two decades. They came up with Ten in 1991, Vs in 1993, Vitalogy in 1994, No Code in 1996, Yield in 1998, Binaural in 2000, Riot Act in 2002, Pearl Jam in 2006 and Backspacer in 2009.

Musical Style, Influences and Legacy

Aficionados of Pearl Jam can simply expect something new from the band yet still suggestive of the soul that makes the band what it is. With each new discharge, the band widens to try different things with and impacts other musical styles however without losing its embodiment as a band with unequivocally fantastic rock and punk rock impacts of its own.

For instance, the Ten collection was viewed as the high purpose of option rock. When Vitalogy was discharged, the punk sound turned out to be more prevailing while No Code included carport rock. The Yield collection was shake and move, which was trailed by the craftsmanship rock of Binaural and after that the people rock sound of Riot Act. The self-tiled Pearl Jam was an arrival to the band's option rock roots while the most recent collection, Backspacer, has pop and New Wave components.

Because of the band's variety of music quality, the band's influence also encompasses bands from different genres. Bands that reflect Pearl Jam's work include alternative band Silverchair, rock band The Strokes and post grunge band Puddle of Mud. More bands influenced by the group are perhaps currently in the works.

Music is not the only point of interest of band members. Vocalist Eddie Vedder does not shy away from showing support for several causes. Vedder has been specifically known to support wildlife protection, Chrohn's disease awareness, voter registration and pro choice among other things.

It's clear that the band members' additional point of appeal is their social involvement. They definitely have more in mind than fame and money. This truly makes them the best candidates for genuine adulation. Pearl jam has recently been in the news for their 2016 tour seen: HERE

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Goodness, can you trust that heavy metal's heavy weights Iron Maiden have now been cranking out memorable heavy metal tunes for almost 30 years? WOW, that's a long time in case you're keeping track of each song and album they've ever dedicated to tape.

Writing catchy and meaningful songs has been one of Iron Maiden's strongest focuses, which has also separate them from their heavy metal associates, and has been exceptionally instrumental in their longevity as a band.

"From Fear To Eternity - The Best Of 1990-2010" is Iron Maiden's latest release as a greatest hits gathering. There are two CDs included 23 songs, almost over two hours worth of music to bang your head to. Individuals, this is 20 years worth of killer..
Circle one starts of with the rocking and rolling antics of "The Wicker Man". "El Dorado" is another track taken from their latest full-length studio release, "The Final Frontier" and will want to make your bang your head with its memorable harmonies and rhythms that'll just gradually ravage your reality. A portion of the other group favorites making it onto plate number one are as per the following: "Paschendale", "Sacred Smoke", "Kindred spirits", "Brave New World" and a live form of "Fear Of The Dark among others.

Plate number two is certainly bolted and loaded with some of their hazardous numbers as in the thrash metal-like "Be Quick Or Be Dead", "Tailgunner", and "Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter" from one of the Nightmare On Elm Street blood and guts movies. One of my many different favorites also making it onto this plate is "Afraid To Shoot Strangers", which has the absolute most memorable vocal harmonies as singer Bruce Dickinson sings his heart out.

Be that as it may, despite everything I do appreciate listening to Iron Maiden and highly praise them for sticking to their heavy metal canons and doing what they excel at, which is compose heavy metal from the heart.

For those of you who dig live recordings will be pleased to realize that there are four songs making it on here fit as a fiddle of "Man On The Edge", "Sign Of The Cross", "Fear Of The Dark" and "The Clansman". The quality of these live cuts is pretty darn good, so look at "From Fear To Eternity and ride the soul of Iron Maiden high and mighty.

Monday, December 7, 2015

Although the American alternative rock giants R.E.M. are no more (having officially called it a day in 2011), they have a 31 year long career of many interesting and amazing high points that are worth looking back at. In the following post we will look at 10 of these high points, the ones that we feel are the band's most defining moments.

Album Number 14 - Accelerate
Many bands find it hard to stay consistently on top of their game during shorter careers than R.E.M.'s, so it is no surprise that during a lot of the 00's the group struggled to find their footing. However, their penultimate studio release proved there was still fire in the belly of these elder statesmen of rock. Accelerate (2008) was a a loud, brash, witty and fiery collection of punk-influenced political and social commentary-charged rock that had showed the band could still surprise and thrill and sound as exciting as they did 25 years earlier..

Bill Berry Leaving The Band
When REM formed they were a four-piece band consisting of Mike Mills on bass, Peter Buck on guitar, Michael Stipe on vocals and Bill Berry on the drums. From their inception until 1997, the same four had recorded and toured together, so it was quite a shock to fans and his band mates when Berry decided enough was enough and he wanted a change of pace in his life. The band decided rather than spending countless hours looking for someone to fill Berry's shoes, they would continue as a three-piece. The interesting thing is that although his leaving did have an impact on the band and their sound, it was rather thrilling to see that the band were still capable of producing great material without one of their key members.

Their Commitment to Political Activism
Although they are obviously known for writing some of the catchiest and anthemic poppy rock songs of the last 30 years, the name R.E.M. is also synonymous with political activism. They were a band with a conscience and did not hold back from writing songs and speaking out about difficult subjects such as sexuality, Burma's human rights issues, gun control in the US, voting apathy in the US and animal rights. Their political thoughts and views were sounded out in some of their most notable tracks such as Until The Day Is Done from Accelerate (covering the topics of war and the US economy), Orange Crush (an angst-ridden and pointed look at the Vietnam War) and Exhuming McCarthy (concerning political oppression in the US).

Automatic for the People
While it is true that Out Of Time was a big record and reached number 1 in the US Billboard chart, it was in no way, shape or form a true masterpiece. The first true masterpiece of R.E.M's career came in a year later when they released the sublime Automatic For The People. It probably remains a career high in recording terms for the group and featured many of the tracks they have become famous for over the year, including of course, Everybody Hurts. However, for real gems of poignant and masterfully written lyrics and sombre sounding productions, listen to Try Not To Breath, Find The River and the beautiful Nightswimming to hear a band in peak form.begelman foundation, fort lauderdale recording studio, mark begelman, mark begelman facebook, mark begelman foundation, mark begelman mars music, mark begelman pizza fusion, mark begelman restaurant, mars mark begelman, soundgarden, chris cornell, mark begelman instagram, mark begelman youtube, mark begelman cnn, mark begelman mtv, mark begelman twitter

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Hello everyone, as many of you already know I, Mark Begelman have a recording studio. What many do not know is that several artists record at the studio.

One of the individuals who recorded at the studio is Rick Springfield, who is an excellent musician and just a great man in general. Thos who know Rick Springfield realize he is one of the most down to earth guys you will ever meet.

In honor of his talent, I have made a video dedicated to him with lyrics.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

There are few names as recognizable as Fender in the grand scheme of popular music. We can trace the effect that the Leo Fender’s invention of a simple solid-body electric guitar design in 1946 to improve the amplified hollow-body instruments of those days have on the music industry. Since then, Fender electric guitars have had a tremendous influence on music worldwide including the way we compose, plays and listens to music. In fact, most legendary artists for rock including Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and many others have had a hand on these guitars. Everyone who has used these legendary guitars such as Stratocaster and Telecaster, and Jazz and Precision has acclaimed them as design classics.

Today, Fender’s most prominent guitars are the Telecaster and the Stratocaster that have a bass line consisting mainly of the Jazz and Precision basses. You can also get classics of older models such as Jazzmaster and Jaguar. The company still maintains a class of their own when it comes to the sound of electric and acoustic guitars, feel and look.

Now, whether you are a veteran or amateur of the stage, Fender has the perfect guitar for you. So what is your taste? If you wish to begin, there is a starter package that will give you everything needed for you to start your musical journey. If you are searching on whether to buy a Stratocaster or a Telecaster, here are few differences that may help you to choose between them although it is advisable to have a variety of instruments.

Yes, the two are very different guitars despite both being made by Fender and having a “caster” in common. Their pickups are different with the Telecaster being outfitted with two single coils pickups while Stratocaster has three. You can thus argue that the Stratocaster offers a wider array of tones than the Telecaster due to its three-pickup design. Other claims that Stratocaster is more comfortable to play while sitting although a personal preference.